Newly Independent Airlink Becomes Africa’s Second Largest Airline
Newly Independent Airlink Becomes Africa’s Second Largest Airline! South Africa’s Airlink became an independent carrier in late 2020 as it cut its ties with the troubled South African Airways.
Airlink is now the African continent’s second biggest airline after Ethiopian airlines. The newly independent airline offers almost 1.2 million seats for sale during summer in the Southern hemisphere.
This comes from the Official Airline Guide’s (OAG) data that of the 1.2 million seats, three quarters of the availability is for domestic flights within South Africa aboard Airlink’s 98-seat Brazilian built Embraer 190 aircraft. This makes Airlink Africa’s third largest airline by seat numbers after Ethiopian Airlines and Egyptair and rising to second when calculating the number of flights
In November 2020, Airlink ceased its partnership with financially troubled South African Airways and signed code sharing agreements with KLM, Air France, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Emirates and United Airlines. This will allow Airlink to place its designator code on a flight operated by these airlines, which will allow it to sell tickets for that flight. Airlines throughout the world continue to form code-share arrangements to strengthen or expand their market presence and competitive ability.
The airline operates a fleet of 46 aircraft made up of four British Aerospace Jetstream 41s, 27 Embraer ERJ-135s, 3 Embraer ERJ-170s and 12 Embraer ERJ-190s. Airlink currently operates 63 routes in Southern Africa, with flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airport accounting for around one-fifth of Airlink’s capacity.
Airlink will have four weekly flights between Cape Town and Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Zimbabwe starting on the 18th of January 2021.
“Airlink is excited to be launching this important new route, which will provide convenience to business and leisure travellers, saving them precious hours transferring via Johannesburg and also limiting their exposure to potential touch-points, which is key considering as we adjust our travelling habits during the Covid-19 pandemic. Airlink’s unique service on the route will also support trade, commerce and tourism between the two cities and their respective markets at a time when it us desperately needed.” said Airlink CEO, Rodger Foster.
